Battlestar Galactica "Pegasus" Part 1 0:00-17:25 on the Blu-ray TV episode Written by Anne Cofell Saunders Directed by Michael Rymer Original air date: September 23, 2005

When the fleet is discovered by the Pegasus, another Battlestar that escaped the colonies, its commander, Admiral Cain, assumes leadership of the fleet from Adama.

(This episode opens with the Galactica detecting the arrival of the battlestar Pegaus in the vicinity and ends with Commander Adama telling Admiral Cain that President Roslin has "come a long way".)

Read the summary of the complete episode at the Battlestar Wiki

Didja Know?

I have split this 1-part episode into two parts in order to insert "Pegasus Interlude" between them. "Pegasus Interlude" is a one-shot comic book published by Dynamite Entertainment, a story of an early encounter by the Pegasus with the modern day Cylons before the fall of the Twelve Colonies.

This study is based on the extended version of "Pegasus" that runs to about 59 minutes found on the Battlestar Galactica complete series Blu-ray boxed set.

The episode summary at the Battlestar Wiki linked to above is for the standard-length episode that aired on Sci-fi Channel. The Battlestar Wiki also lists the content of the extended scenes here.

The opening titles show the fleet at a population of 49,605, up 1,752 from the last known population number of 47,853 in "Flight of the Phoenix". This is due to the arrival of the battlestar Pegasus and its crew at the beginning of this episode. This might seem to suggest that the crew complement of the Pegasus is 1,752, but at least 28 people died in the course of the novel Unity in between the two episodes.

The character of Pegasus CAG Stinger is played by actor John Pyper-Ferguson, who goes on to play Tomas Vergis on Caprica. Another pilot called Stinger aboard Galactica was mentioned in "Act of Contrition".

Many of the Pegasus sets incorporate elements from the sets of the 2003 pilot of a proposed new Lost in Space TV series for the WB network that did not go to series. (You can watch the pilot and compare the sets at YouTube).

Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode

Starbuck

Commander Adama

President Roslin

Lt. Gaeta

Colonel Tigh

Dee

Apollo

Kat

Colonel Jack Fisk

Admiral Helena Cain

Helo

Baltar

Chief Tyrol

Cally

Stinger (Captain Cole Taylor)

Narcho (Lt. Noel Allison)

Didja Notice?

As Starbuck outlines her plan to rescue the members of the Caprica resistance on Caprica, she remarks that they can drop seven Raptors down the Martok Valley. This is the first mention of the Martok Valley. Possibly, the valley is named by the writers after the character of Martok in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, on which BSG executive producer Ron Moore was a producer.

At 6:05 on the Blu-ray, the Pegasus is seen to have a bit of plating on it that is very similar to a piece seen on the original BSG70 battlestars.

Pegasus	Pegasus plating
BSG70 Galactica	BSG70 Galactica plating

Admiral Cain explains that the Pegasus has been attacking the Cylons in hit-and-run raids since the devastation of the Twelve Colonies, remarking, "... you know what they say about the best defense." The popular saying is "The best defense is a good offense," often taken as a strategic principle of war.

This episode is the first mention of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards, where the Pegasus first encountered the Cylon assault against the Colonies.

Cain says she lost over 700 men in the Cylon strike against the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards. This implies that the Pegasus had a crew of almost 2500 before the attack.

Cain remarks that the Pegasus' computers avoided infiltration by the Cylons only by virtue of the fact that her networks were offline in preparation for an overhaul to be conducted at the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards.

The Pegasus' actions under Admiral Cain of striking out repeatedly against the Cylons after the fall of the Colonies is essentially what Commander Adama wanted to do with the Galactica in "Serve and Protect" until President Roslin convinces him to lead a civilian fleet to safety instead in "Flight".

Admiral Cain asserts her authority over Adama's fleet, stating (in "Pegasus" Part 2) that regulations give her broad authority in time of war. But it might be argued that since the Colonies have fallen and Roslin is now demonstrably the legitimate President of the Colonial government, Cain should be taking orders from her.